kanji - Is there a reliable translation of the kangxi radicals?

Inspired by the Wikipedia page on Kangxi radicals I decided to study the meaning and writing of radicals before I tackle the much more numerous kanji. But in working my way through the list, I started doubting the translations of the radicals. Looking closer at the cited sources, I found them to contradict each other at several occasions. 癶 is translated as "foot steps" as well as "dotted tent", 冂 is translated as "down box", "upside down box" and "display case". These are only two examples out of many more contradictions.

Is there any reliable source to the meaning of kangxi radicals? I really want to learn the meaning of the radicals, but at this pace I don't even know where to start. Can we find a reliable source, as well as an indication to why it is reliable? Any help would be appreciated!

Answer

What is meant by a "reliable translation"? Let's look at 彳:

1. In Japanese, it is given the nickname ぎょうにんべん. This is customarily translated to "going man". If you want a translation of these customary nicknames, you can find them in the New Nelson dictionary.


2. 
   

   But whoops--that's just a nickname! How about a definition? Well, that depends on what you mean:

   
   
   
   
   • Possibility A: What does the character mean on its own? My dictionary says it means 進み出る, "to step forward". That seems to fit with the "radical step" meaning on Wikipedia! But that's not terribly useful, because you're unlikely to ever come across 彳 as an independent character. For characters that are used on their own, any good character dictionary should suffice.
   
   
   • Possibility B: What does the element mean as part of another character? Unfortunately, this is not reliably answerable for all characters; see Is there an objective source of the origins of kanji? for details on why not. However, there are many good books on character etymology you might enjoy, such as Henshall's A Guide to Remembering Japanese Characters.
   
   
   
   

Where does that leave us? Personally, I'd say to learn the customary names for common radicals, and investigate character etymology when you find it helpful or interesting, on a character-by-character basis.